A plant that sniffs out diamonds

Scientists have discovered a rare plant that only appears to grow directly above kimberlite pipes – columns of rock left by eruptions which have historically brought diamonds to earth’s surface.

This is according to the website of the renowned scholarly journal Science, which says the plant, known as Pandanus candelabrum, is the first known plant capable of specifically identifying “diamond bearing kimberlite”. The site says there are other plants which have been known by miners to indicate where other ores are abundant, such as copper, but this is the first one to identify diamonds.

Of the hundred of kimberlite pipes in the world, only around 60 are thought to return diamonds to the surface in high enough quantities to be worth mining. However, they can be hundreds of metres across meaning that when they are productive, there is money to be made.

To see the article in full (and learn more about the science behind the phenomenon), go to: http://news.sciencemag.org/africa/2015/05/rare-african-plant-signals-diamonds-beneath-soil